Being on the same page with our dogs. Part II

I read about one example in Gail Fisher’s The Thinking Dog. A lady was teaching her dog how to come for a competition. She’d have her dog stay, walk several feet away, turn around and call her dog. The dog performed the behavior perfectly during training but would not move during competition. The trainer and the pet parent figured out that the lady normally wore a pony tail. But during the competition, she wore her hair up.
The lady thought her dog was responding to her “come” cue. But the dog had learned that the flip of her pony tail meant come. No pony tail, no recall.